Lake Purrumbete is a

volcanic lake A volcanogenic lake is a lake formed as a result of volcanic activity. They are generally a body of water inside an inactive volcanic crater (crater lakes) but can also be large volumes of molten lava within an active volcanic crater ( lava lakes) ...

located in the Western District of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. Lake Purrumbete is approximately east of the town of Camperdown. The lake is in a shallow maar. The water is crystal clear most times of the year as the lake relies totally on its own catchment.

Recreational activities

Lake Purrumbete is a prime destination for anglers chasing

chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus '' Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ...

and rainbow and brown trout. The banks are heavily weeded at places, but the depth drops sharply; once away from the bank, it can get more than deep. There are heavy-duty boat ramps and jetties at the caravan park. The Lake Purrumbete Caravan Park has cabins, ice, public toilets, mooring facilities, jetties, fish cleaning facilities, day parking and a dual lane concrete boat ramp. The park is on the foreshore at the lake's southern end.

Formation

Lake Purrumbete is a maar located east of Camperdown in the state of Victoria in Australia. The maar is located in a volcanic landscape, which

geologists A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

call

Newer Volcanics Province The Newer Volcanics Province is a geological area which is a volcanic field, formed by the East Australia hotspot across south-eastern Australia. It covers an area of , with over 400 small shield volcanoes and volcanic vents. The area contain ...

. The lake is a deep maar with a diameter of . It was caused by a volcanic eruption when hot magma came in contact with groundwater. Though a date of 20,000 years has been attributed to the eruption, there is no scientific data to back that up. In Australia, most of the maars are in the southern part of Victoria's Western District, of which more than 30 are between Colac and

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

. Lake Purrumbete and the maar

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

are well-known examples. Lake Purrumbete, Lake Bullen Merri and Lake Gnotuk are small maars that are fed by groundwater. The larger lakes, such as Lake Colongulac and

Lake Corangamite Lake Corangamite , a hypersaline endorheic lake, is located near Colac in the Lakes and Craters region of the Victorian Volcanic Plains of south-west Victoria, Australia. The lake's salinity levels have increased dramatically as the lake level ...

, Victoria's largest lake, were formed in large lowlands as streams were shut off by lava flows and filled with water.Hochspringen published by sydney.edu.au : Volcanic landforms in the Camperdown area of Victoria , 28/01/2012

References

Lakes of Victoria (state) Corangamite catchment Rivers of Barwon South West (region) Volcanic crater lakes Maars of Australia Volcanoes of Victoria (state) Pleistocene volcanoes {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub

Recreational activities

Formation

See also

References